John and the Kingdom of God
READ Matthew 3:1-6
The Jews were looking for a Messiah to
save them from the Romans, but what Kingdom did John preach was at hand?
What constitutes the kingdom of God or
Heaven (on earth)?
Did John have the keys of the kingdom of
God or did the Jewish leaders, who had legitimate authority to perform the
temple sacrifices, have them?
READ TPJS 307:2-308:2
“As touching the Gospel and baptism that
John preached, I would say that John came preaching the Gospel for the
remission of sins; he had his authority from God, and the oracles of
God were with him, and the kingdom of God for a season seemed to rest with John
alone. The Lord promised Zacharias that he should have a son who was a
descendant of Aaron, the Lord having promised that the priesthood should
continue with Aaron and his seed throughout their generations. Let no man
take this honor upon himself, except he be called of God, as was Aaron; and
Aaron received his call by revelation. An angel of God also appeared unto
Zacharias while in the Temple, and told him that he should have a son,
whose name should be John, and he should be filled with the Holy Ghost. Zacharias
was a priest of God, and officiating in the Temple, and John was a priest
after his father, and held the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood, and was
called of God to preach the Gospel of the kingdom of God. The Jews, as a
nation, having departed from the law of God and the Gospel of the Lord, prepared
the way for transferring it to the Gentiles.
But, says one, the kingdom of God could not be set up in the days of John,
for John said the kingdom was at hand. But I would ask if it could be any
nearer to them than to be in the hands of John. The people need not wait for
the days of Pentecost to find the kingdom of God, for John had it with
him, and he came forth from the wilderness crying out, “Repent ye, for the
kingdom of heaven is nigh at hand,” as much as to say, “Out here I have
got the kingdom of God, and you can get it, and I am coming after you; and if
you don’t receive it, you will be damned;” and the scriptures represent
that all Jerusalem went out into John’s baptism. There was a legal
administrator, and those that were baptized were subjects for a king; and
also the laws and oracles of God were there; therefore the kingdom of God was
there; for no man could have better authority to administer than John; and our
Savior submitted to that authority Himself, by being baptized by John; therefore
the kingdom of God was set up on the earth, even in the days of John.”
What is God’s message through the “oracles”
to man?
READ Matthew 3:7; JST Matthew 3:7-9;
Matthew 3:10
What is at the heart of the problem that
the High Priests and Pharisees have with John?
Is God’s forgiveness dependent on your
good works or “fruits of repentance” or are those good works proof of your
repentance and His forgiveness?
Baptism of Water vs. Fire
READ Matthew 3:11-12 (JST 3:38-40) and 2
Nephi 31:12-13
If John was baptizing by water but not by
Fire and the Holy Ghost, what was his baptism for?
What is the difference between the
baptism of water and the baptism of fire?
So, is it possible to be baptized of
water and not receive a remission of sins?
The Baptism of Christ
READ Matthew 3:13-14, JST Matthew
3:43-46, and 2 Nephi 31:5-7, 9
Why was Christ baptized by John?
Who was the “sign of the dove” for?
Why was the dove chosen to represent the
Holy Ghost?
READ Hebrews 5:5, Psalms 2:7, Mosiah 5:7
and D&C 11:28-30
There is an argument that the actual
words spoken by God at Christ’s baptism were those found in Psalms 2:7; what
are the similarities and differences between being physically begotten and
spiritually begotten?
Why would the Father tell Christ that
“this day have I begotten thee” at the time of Christ’s baptism?
Why might have these verses been changed
by later Church leaders?
READ D&C 93:19-20, 27-28, 36, 39; and
D&C 50:24
How does one become a “Son of God”?
Communion with God & Temptations
from Satan:
READ Matthew 4:1-2 (JST)
What was Christ doing with God in the
wilderness for 40 days?
What does it mean to “commune” with God?
READ Matthew 4:3-4
What is Satan tempting Christ to do?
READ Matthew 4:5-7 (JST)
What was the second temptation?
READ Matthew 4:8-10
What was the third temptation?
What is the overarching theme in Satan’s
temptations to Christ?
Were these temptations legitimate or was
this just an exercise in futility on Satan’s part?
Christ Calls Disciples
READ John 1:35-51
Why did the disciples ask Christ “where
dwellest thou” – that seems like a random question of no consequence to have
made it into the Bible?
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